Cinque Torri

While trying to prolong our Labor Day trip as long as possible, we took the long way driving home and stopped at a few other interesting spots before leaving the mountains.  One of these was Cinque Torri, a group of five rock towers.  Nowadays, this area is popular for skiing in the winter and hiking and rock climbing in the summer.  During WWI however, this was the site of some harsh battles between the Italian and Austrian troops.  Many of the structures built by the Italian army have been reconstructed into a museum of sorts.  We spent a couple hours walking around, with Donovan lamenting his lack of climbing gear the whole time.  Luckily it's close enough that we can easily come back next summer.

A Weekend in the Mountains

One of these days, I'll get the hang of posting about things in a timely manner and not four weeks later.  

Over the Labor Day weekend we headed north to the Dolomites.  These mountains are a favorite hangout of ours, especially for skiing, but this time we enjoyed the end of summer with some hiking.  The weather was perfect, the views were incredible, and Baby B climbed his first mountain (with momma doing all the work).

It looks deceiving, but I promise mine is apple juice

Cortina Ski Trip

For our first long weekend following Donovan's return, we headed several hours north to the little town of Cortina d'Ampezzo for a couple days of skiing and spectacular mountain views.  It was a weekend of fun times with good friends, delicious food, and lots of powder. 

Hanging Out At Arco

Block leave would not be complete without a trip to our favorite little getaway.  It's no secret how much we love Lake Garda and Arco and so it was only fitting that we take Donovan's dad there.  We got to catch the last of the winter snow mixed with some well-deserved sunshine, climbing, and gelato.  

And of course we had to check out the amazing views from the mountains.

In a few weeks, after the water warms up a little, we'll probably be back to enjoy some swimming and maybe some paddle boarding on the lake.

Weekend in the Dolomites

Spring is in full swing here in the Veneto.  The trees are all in bloom, everything is green, and we're enjoying beautiful, warm weather.  I, for one, am not complaining!  Bring on summer...

This past weekend we took full advantage of the pleasant weather and took my parents up to the Dolomites for a couple days of hiking.  Of course, I'm a little partial to being in the mountains, but these ones are truly incredible.  Definitely some amazing views.

And now we're getting ready for our next expedition...Paris!  We'll be spending four days exploring the city, which will hopefully be adequate time to see all the museums as well as soak in the Parisian atmosphere.  Time to get our culture on!

Lake Garda

For the last day of our long weekend, we went up to Lake Garda with some friends.  It's about an hour west of us, and is the largest of Italy's lakes.  We walked around town, ate some gelato, and did a little swimming.  It's a huge tourist destination, so we probably won't be going there very often once summer really kicks off, but yesterday was a great time to go.  Not too crowded and perfect weather!

An awesome castle that's right on the edge of the lake

 

There are some really cool mountains here, but unfortunately it wasn't clear enough to see them

More of the haze - it seems to be a common theme over here